Stalkers: Hidden Campus Danger

Hattie Kauffman On Potentially Deadly Threat Many Female Students Aren't Even Aware Of

(CBS) 

One of them, Sarah Sheffield, told Kauffman, "It was just shocking for the one girl that everybody loved, to be gone, in a heartbeat. We just didn't know what to do. It was very hard."

Just before Christmas last year, Rachel was gunned down by a stalker, former fellow student Jake Taylor.

It turns out -- Rachel had never reported that she was being stalked.

"For the longest time," says another friend of Rachel's, Vali Monreal, "everybody thought that they were just friends."

Sheffield says, "He was stressing her out," calling and texting her all the time. She adds, "He called me on about ten different occasions, saying, 'Why won't she talk to me? Why is she ignoring me? ' He would not leave her alone."

Weeks before the murder, Jake overdosed on pills, then called Rachel, who called the paramedics.

"She tried to help him. She saved his life! And then he repaid her by taking hers!" Sheffield said, noting the irony.

After shooting Rachel, Taylor killed himself with the same gun.

Her friends hadn't sensed the danger, and Rachel's father was completely in the dark.

Mark Pendray recalled, "I never even heard of this guy's name, and I will not speak his name! ... She helped him, she extended her helping hand, and her thanks was to be murdered."

Rachel had a love of life. If, beneath that ever present smile, there was fear, she never let it show.

Yet another friend, Rachel Farris says, "I can hear her laughing, and I, you know, I can just remember how she acted."

Tearfully, Farris added, "It's really hard to look at pictures." But, "I'm not gonna blame myself, 'cause it's not my fault but, I mean, I think everybody thinks that they could have prevented it somehow."

"College campuses are waking up to the issue," launching programs to teach female students about the dangers of stalking, says Heather Davies of Voices Against Violence at the University of Texas at Austin. "I think the initial way that students respond is often a sense of denial. ... They may feel immune to anything bad happening. ... They want to feel like they're on their own and they can handle it."

One female freshman at the University of Texas at Austin explained to Kauffman, "Your first instinct is usually to tell somebody and try to get help for it, but you always feel, I guess, ridiculous doing that. You feel like you're over reacting. So, you know, you tend not to, not to go for help."

Students often make themselves more vulnerable by placing too much information on Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

"They post their schedules," says Davies, "they post where they're gonna meet somebody, they post pictures of themselves, intimate information about themselves ... and they don't think about how that can also be working against them."

Asked if she ever wonders why Rachel didn't report the stalking, Sheffield replied, "Yes. Every day, I wish, 'Why didn't she just say, "No. I don't want to see you. I don't want you to come over, and I want you to leave me alone! "

Mark reflected, "If my daughter had just told me, 'Hey, you know, I've got this nutcase whose life I saved,' you know what I'd say? 'Baby, stay away from him. Stay away from him, don't answer the door, hang up the phone, get him out of your life!' "

[scat814]

Keithle1 obviously wants to blame victims for getting attacked instead of the perpetrator. You are the epitomy of the misogynist. You think women should all be walking around covered from head to toe and acting submissive or they deserve to be attacked? Also interesting how you compared those who attack women to "heterosexual men". It''s these pervasive attitudes that create an environment where stalking is permissible.

[rachelp4]

Thanks for that web site!!! What a wonderful girl.
http://www.rachelpendray.org

[juwboy]

crzmeat:

Why is a traitor like you advocating the violation, by true patriotic Americans, of the provisions of that wonderful document, the U.S. Constitution?

Go back to where your ancestors came from!

[Krazcarl]

Shoot them I''m tired of this trash it''s time we did something to make the populace safe you start stringing them up the problem will go away anything else is just talk to look liberal.

[jshmks]

Good looking girl too, *** sucks.

[bobnjersey]

[Female students don''''t report it because stalking is so common that we tend to think of it as normal male behavior, which says a lot about our culture. ]
[Posted by tngreen at 01:16 PM : Dec 27, 2007]

sorry ... it doesn''t say anything about our culture. what it''s really saying is there''s something wrong w/ your view of men.

for something to be construed as ''normal'' ... it would generally be a common trait of the majority of the population you''re speaking of.

[gunownerdan]

Criminals love easy victims who are not aware of their surroundings.
Always be aware of who''s around you and stay alert in public.
Doing this probably saved my life when I got attacked in a parking lot by two violent criminals!
I saw them coming and was able to protect myself.

[gunownerdan]

"We live in a world where more and more women are unaccompanied at odd hours, or they are vulnerable in dangerous places - a world where restraining orders are often ineffective and the police cannot be counted upon to arrive in time, if at all. In such a world, women must be able to protect themselves. In terms of both deterrence and lethal force, guns are among the most effective tools available for self-defense." -- Mary Zeiss Stange, "Guns, like abortion, are a matter of choice"
a-human-right.com

[tngreen]

Female students don''t report it because stalking is so common that we tend to think of it as normal male behavior, which says a lot about our culture. We have to raise our children to understand that they do not have a right to be in somebody else''s life if that person doesn''t want them there.

I would encourage everyone to read "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin deBecker. It will change your life and help you to see through what we think of as "normal" behavior to the real dynamics underlying stalking and other threatening behaviors. Share this book with someone you love!

[jeremyr84]

If you want to learn more about the amazing life of Rachel Pendray or find ways you can make a difference go to her website http://www.rachelpendray.org.

[justjack6]

I empathize with the family and friends, but we must not forget about the males, who also get stalked by
other women. Women are just less likely to become violent

[keithle1]

Why aren''t female students aware of it? What planet do the live on?

Female students are glued to their cellphones. Have to discuss the tiniest details of their lives with their gal pals. My office building downtown is right next to a university campus. I often see young women jogging by at night listening to music on their Ipods/headphones. Just asking for trouble. They wear provocative clothing. Seem to act like there aren''t any heterosexual men around. I don''t understand it. They take stupid, foolish chances/risks.